Description

The Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire (BIQ) was originally developed by Szapocznik, Kurtines, and Fernandez (1980) to assess how individuals engage with and feel comfortable in both their heritage and majority culture. The measure was designed to capture two dimensions of biculturalism: (1) comfort in each cultural context and (2) enjoyment and frequency of participation in cultural activities. Items ask about language use, media, food, social interactions, and cultural practices. The BIQ has been used to study the relationship between bicultural involvement and psychological adjustment and to measure bicultural orientation as a protective factor for well-being and adaptation. Scores reflect levels of involvement and comfort in each culture, providing researchers with insights into bicultural identity and orientation.

AI/AN Communities where the measure has been used

First Nation community in northeastern Quebec.

Demographics of AI/AN participants where the scale has been used

Students, ages 11–19 years, mixed gender

Notes on adaptations or modifications

  1. Original BIQ was developed for bilingual Hispanic-American youth, with items asking about comfort in Hispanic vs. American culture/Spanish vs. English. Language was modified for adolescents in the Naskapi community to ask about Indigenous vs. white culture/Indigenous language vs. English

Modality and administration

Self-report; all questions were read aloud to participants to support understanding and completion.

Scoring

Responses are scored on Likert-type scales to assess attitudes and comfort levels with each culture independently. Scores are computed separately for involvement in mainstream culture and involvement in heritage culture, allowing for assessment of bicultural orientation.

Psychometric evidence

Szapocznik et al. (1980) reported that the BIQ scales were reliable and valid in a Hispanic-American youth sample. Bicultural youths were found to be better adjusted than monocultural peers, providing preliminary evidence of construct validity. Further psychometric evidence TBD.

Citation(s)

  • Szapocznik, J., Kurtines, W. M., & Fernandez, T. (1980). Bicultural involvement and adjustment in Hispanic-American youths. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 4(3–4), 353–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(80)90010-3 [Original citation]
  • Fryberg, S. A., Troop-Gordon, W., D’Arrisso, A., Flores, H., Ponizovskiy, V., Ranney, J. D., & Mandour, T. (2013). Cultural mismatch and the education of Aboriginal youths: The interplay of cultural identities and teacher ratings. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029056

Note: The included citations are not exhaustive, but represent the examples we had access to. If you are an original author or have other work that could be included here, please contact us.